Great Northern?

From Arthur Ransome Wiki

Great Northern? is the twelfth and final completed book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1947. In this book, the three families of major characters in the series, the Swallows (the Walker family), the Amazons (the Blackett sisters) and the Ds (the two Callums), are all reunited in a book for the first time since Pigeon Post. This book is set in 1934 in the Outer Hebrides islands of Scotland and the two familiar Ransome themes of sailing and birds come to the fore.

Contents 1 Sources 2 Characters 3 Boats 4 Plot summary 5 Timeline 6 Notes 7 Is It or Isn't It?

[edit] Sources

For this story, Ransome was inspired by a fan, Myles North, an avid birdwatcher, who wrote a letter to Ransome which supplied a detailed outline of much of the basic plot. He also supplied the famous phrase "What's hit's history: what's missed's mystery". Ransome also made a visit to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides for a fishing trip, and to research the area as the setting for the book.

[edit] Characters

• Swallows (John, Susan, Titty, Roger (11 yrs. old?) Walker)
• Amazons (Nancy, Peggy Blackett)
• The Ds (Dot, Dick Callum)
• Captain Flint (Uncle Jim Turner)
• Mr Jemmerling
• minor characters:
  • the young chieftain Ian McGinty
  • the laird The McGinty
  • Angus the "Dogmudgeon"
  • the ghillies
  • the piper
  • the sailor from Pterodactyl
  • (Mac, the owner of the Sea Bear)

[edit] Boats

Sea Bear, Pterodactyl, the Sea Bear's dinghy, the folding boat

[edit] Plot summary

The Swallows, Amazons and D's are all on a sailing cruise with Captain Flint in the Outer Hebrides. While the older members of the party clean the boat before returning her to the owner, the younger ones explore inland and a mysterious bird is seen nesting on an island in a loch. The question arises whether it is a Great Northern Diver which has never been known to nest in the British Isles. Mr Jemmerling, an expert whom they consult, turns out to be a deadly enemy for the birds and the rest of the book describes how they try to protect the birds while gathering evidence of their nesting. Complicating the matter is a misunderstanding with the local inhabitants, the Gaels.

[edit] Timeline

(numbers are days, names are chapter titles)

1. The Sea Bear, Feeling Her Way In
2. Putting Her On Legs, The First Discovery, "We're Being Stalked", First Sight of the Birds, Is It or Isn't It?
3. He's Still There!, Cross Purposes, Mutiny Aboard, The Egg-Collector Cooks His Own Goose, Waiting For a Chance
4. Giving Him the Slip, "I've Got to Have a Hide", Interrupted Netting Party, A Good Look-Out, Enemies Afloat and Ashore, Night Visit to the Island
5. A Clear Coast For Dick, The Decoys, The Red Herrings, The Round-Up, Ship's Naturalist, Unwanted Rescuer, Roger's Dull Day, The McGinty Listens to Reason, Too Late!, "But What Has He Done With the Eggs?", "Quick! Quick!"

[edit] Notes

• Great Northern? takes place in summer, as it never completely gets dark at the time of year they are sailing, and that is the nesting season for G.N. Divers
• there is no certain year to be determined, but it does take place after The Picts and the Martyrs (the Ds have Scarab and know how to sail), so the earliest is 1934
• Sea Bear and her crew had been sailing for 10 days before the start of the book, going to Skye, Tarbert, and Portree
• Mac is the owner of the Sea Bear, and they are bringing her back to him at Mallaig

[edit] Is It or Isn't It?

Great Northern? is sometimes listed alongside Peter Duck and Missee Lee as having story-within-a-story status; notably by Christina Hardyment (CFT). The book has some of the features of a Peter Duck story (violence, far-flung travel) but the extent of these is lesser (Scotland, not the Caribbean or China).

Arthur Ransome did not intend this status for Great Northern?. Writing to Myles North (discussing the book's dedication) he says:

...At all costs it must do nothing to weaken the reality ... nothing to suggest that it is a mere story and not the record of an actual happening, even if for bird protection's sake, the details are somewhat disguised. (AR's own emphasis and dotdotdots; SFM1947)

Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series

Swallows and Amazons | 'Their Own Story' | Swallowdale | Peter Duck | Winter Holiday | Coot Club | Pigeon Post | We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea | The Big Six | Secret Water | Missee Lee | The Picts and the Martyrs | 'Coots in the North' | Great Northern? This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors). This page uses content from Guide to Swallows and Amazons series by kind permission of Bill Wright.